Friday, November 27, 2015

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from the publisher for review purposesTitle:Bruce Lee The Tao of Gung FuEdited by: John LittlePublisher:TuttleFormat: SoftcoverCover Price: $19.95 $13.97(US)

Today in America it is our national holiday dedicated to consumerism known as "Black Friday." It is the day many of us will willingly practice a mixed martial art called "Buy Fu." It is a modern martial art which focuses on a combination "karate chops shops" and kara "cart-rate." But seriously, its dangerous out there. Stay inside.
It also happens to be the anniversary of Bruce Lee's birthday. He would have been 75 today, and in honor of him, I'm going to review a book of his that was actually written by him during his life time. It was an early writing, but you can easily see where the now famous and quotable ideas came from. In fact, most of his philosophy is there already.

Content

The book is an original writing of Bruce Lee's that he intended to publish as a manuscript for Gung (Kung) Fu, to introduce it to more people. Granted, it wasn't the finished version, but each section was completed. It wasn't published during his lifetime, but it was the only book he wrote specifically for publication during his lifetime. The Tao of Jeet Kune Do wasn't intended for publication, and was done so posthumously.

Pros

I like that this Bruce's ideas in his own words. This book was a conscious effort on his part to write to a western audience about kung fu in terms of physicality and philosophy. As always Bruce Lee's words have a weight of truth to them. Almost everything in this books can be applied to any martial art. His words tend to focus more on the striking aspect of the martial arts, rather than the grappling aspect, but it still applies.
One additional little thing I liked was the appendix of the book. It looked at where Bruce Lee was in his studies at the time of this writing: He had studied Wing Chun for 7 years, Judo for 1 year, ect. It helped put some of his ideas in perspective of where he was in his own path.

Cons

I've read a couple of different versions of Bruce Lee's works recently, so some of the ideas are repeated from other writings. That isn't to say that it isn't valid or valuable, just that if you're looking for "new secrets from Bruce Lee" this isn't the right place. In fact, even a lot of the familiar language that we're used to from Bruce are initiated here. "Be like water" and such. So it shows almost a prequel to the man and the movies that we've all come to love.

Conclusion

Overall I'm going to give this book 4 out of 5 ninja stars. I love the philosophy that Bruce Lee believed in and tried to expand on for everyone else. I think this is a polished look at where Bruce Lee was at this point in his journey. It gives a very good spotlight of his views at this part of his path, and you can easily see where his more famous and quotable ideas originated. You can also see how the notes he took in, what became, Tao of Jeet Kune Do started to change his ideas of martial arts.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from the publisher for review purposesTitle:Bubishi The Classic Manual of CombatTranslated with Commentary by: Patrick McCarthyPublisher:TuttleFormat: HardcoverCover Price: $27.95 $19.57(US)

Bubishi is a title that's been hanging around my wishlist for a while now. It's always been presented to me was as the "Bible of Karate." Which I don't know quite how to take. What does that mean? Is it a series of rules and stories to live by if you're a karateka (person who does karate)? In my head, it was kind of a Book of Five Rings or an Art of War, but somehow specifically written for karateka. So I went into this book, not really knowing what to expect. I have to say, as is more often the case than not, I was pleasantly surprised.

NOTE: The editor just let me know that a new edition will be coming out in May 2016. So start saving your pennies.

Content

From what I gathered from Patrick McCarthy Hanshi is that the Bubishi was the original hand written Chinese Kung Fu manuals that made their way over to Ryuku islands (what we would think of as Okinawa) to somehow form the basis for the original Okinawan art of Te, which eventually became Karate. Many of the originators of what today is called karate had their own hand-copied version of the Bubishi, and swore by it. My interpretation of the book is that there is no one official Bubishi manual, but indeed several versions of it, all of which mostly overlap in material. What Mr. McCarthy did was to hunt down many of those versions, coalesce them, and offer an modernized interpretation to them.
The book itself is divided into several different sections. The first involves the histories, stories, and legends of what Chinese martial arts migrated to the islands, and why they each have a piece of validity to them. He then breaks the articles in the Bubishi into related subjects. There is a section on history and philosophy, one on Chinese Herbal Medicine, another on Vital Points, and the last section is on Fighting techniques. There are also lots of pictures of the original manual with translations of the Chinese texts.

Pros

The translation and commentary by Mr. McCarthy was definitely worth the book by itself. He has obviously put a large amount of time and energy into this product. In fact the version I read was the third or fourth re-write from the original, with more work and insight having been poured into each new edition. I enjoyed the frank and thoughtful observation of the various theories of how the Bubishi and the Chinese arts made they way to the Okinawan islands with a critique of the value of each theory as to its validity.
He also went to great troubles to get an accurate interpretation of the writings themselves. As he states many times, the older language was not only hard to translate by itself, but often rife with terms only meaningful to those of a specific dialect of Chinese. I guess this is how a lot of the secrecy and Oriental mystique gets started, but I did enjoy that Indiana Jones research aspect to his contribution to the story.
The portion on pressure points and fighting techniques seemed, to me, to be of the most universal use to martial artists of any ilk. The pictures and descriptions would have to be gone over, and dissected many time before they would reveal their wisdom. But, isn't that one of the fun parts of martial arts?

Cons

I am not a subscriber to traditional Chinese medicine in anyway shape or form, just because I haven't found any science to back it up (did I mention I'm a science teacher), so that portion of the book held no interest for me. I understand as a historical look at Karate, and the portion of Chinese culture that gave rise to Karate, it has value. And I understand that it was part of the original Bubishi, so why it should be included, but for me, it was easily overlooked. Maybe one day I'll go back and look at it more in depth. In some ways I feel bad because I get the feeling that Mr. McCarthy had the most trouble, and put in the most effort with that section of articles of the Bubishi.

Conclusion

I do believe that this book, and Mc. McCarthy's version in particular, probably has a lot to give any martial artist. I don't practice karate, but the ideas of history, philosophy, pressure points, and techniques presented seem to be pretty universal, and deeper meaning than the once-over would reveal. As such, I'm going to give the book 4 out of 5 Ninja Stars, just because I didn't find the Traditional Chinese Medicine portion useful. I'm sure there are people out there that will scoff at me for that, but that's my opinion.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received these books from the publisher for review purposesTitle:The Art of WarWritten by: Sun TzuInterpreted by: Stephen F. KaufmanPublisher: Tuttle PublishingFormat: SoftcoverCover Price: $12.95 (US)

This is a little different type of review today. First, I'm going to be reviewing two books at the same time. Secondly, I'm not going to review the books themselves, but rather these particular versions of them. The Art of War and Book of Five Rings are classic books that I believe everyone reading this has heard of, and probably read themselves. However, each version that I have read (I own three different versions of each now) interprets them a little different. Its fun to go through them and see how they take the same material and translate them differently.
Both books have been claimed by the business community since the 80's as insightful books on how to conduct deals and corporate takeovers, but that wasn't their original purpose. I can see why they are used that way, but I don't see them really being able to work with that intension. They are books about conquering enemies and ruling people, not management and buyouts. Business and war are very different aspects of humanity. Both deal with conflict, true, but in very different ways. That's why Kaufman Hanshi has gone beyond the simple idea of translating the books, and instead works as interpreter, speaking specifically to the martial artists out there. What's funny is his introduction goes through and talks about how the Way of business and the Way of the sword are not the same, and how this version of the book is intended to be for, what he terms martialists, and then the back cover of the book, where it gives the category, says "business."

Pros

Kaufman Hanshi really does a good job of taking both titles out of the poetic, esoteric type of writing into something more concrete. He does keep some of the embellishing terms used throughout both books, but makes sure they make sense. He also does a really good job of making sure everything is geared towards a martial reader. This could be a martial artist, or a military officer, but they are both going to get something more out of this version than the others that are translated for a businessman.

Cons

Anytime translation or interpretation is done, there will be some drift from the original text for interpretation's sake. If you go in with that knowledge, then everything is fine. However, there are some writings in Book of Five Rings that I haven't been able to find in other versions. They still fit in exactly with the intent of the book, and indeed even explain things better than other versions I've read, but its still going outside the original author. Just a picky point with me.

Conclusion

It is always hard to translate ancient foreign language texts into modern English. There are many

terms and ideas that we don't have equivalent words for. That being said, I really like both interpretations of these books. I think that martial artists would do well do what I did, and take these texts along with other translations, and compare and contrast them. I think when you do that, you get a much fuller, and complete version of what the original authors were trying to convey.
With all of that said, I'm going to give Kaufman Hanshi's interpretations of these two classics 4.5 out of 5 Ninja Stars, as they are very well done, and specific to the martialist audience that is reading them. I just don't know if any one version of these books gets the full meaning into it. But to be honest, these are the closest I've seen that gets the right intention across.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Michael Jordon was not a "natural" basketball player. It is well known that he got cut from his high school team1. In fact, I'd venture to say there are no natural athletes in the world. Going out on a limb, I'm say that all the things we think of as athletic abilities are only learned skills. Speed, strength, and endurance are learned skills. Learned from an early age, and encouraged by activities, but learned. Sure, there are minute inherited differences that allow for those skills to shine better, or physical size enables ease of playing some sports, like basketball. But think of it this way. What if instead of weight classes in combat sports, what if we had height classes in basketball. Then you could have shorter people, who might have just as much skill getting more high level coaching and learning to use their skills better, instead of focusing on anyone who's over 6'5". What does this have to do with martial arts? Well let me explain.

I was always fairly athletic in high school. I was on both the football and the track team. However, because of my short stature, I didn't really fit in well with either sport. On the football team, I was fast, but not fast enough for wide receiver or running back. I was strong, but my size prevented my from playing on the line (until they saw me play in a game). In track I had good endurance, but not enough to win at the long distance events. I could do the long jump and high jump, but not enough to win at any meets. Overall I was a good athlete, but not good enough at any one thing to specialize in it.
Once high school ended, and I went to college, I started doing martial arts. This is where my lack of specialization shined. Martial arts seems to be made for the non-specialist. The arts require coordination, strength, endurance, and a general kinesthetic sense. All of which I learned playing sports. I did end up playing left guard for my high school team, and because of my height, I had to learn (in hind sight, I know this is what I was doing) to use my center and control their center line. I got quite good at it. I learned a skill that would instantly come in handy once I started my martial arts.

I write all of this not to brag about myself, but to use myself as example. I had no real success in high school sports, but the physical skills I learned there helped me later on in my martial arts. I want to encourage anyone who is worried about the physical skill set required for martial arts. Martial arts does not require specialization in a physical ability or skill set, instead the best martial artists should have a generalist approach to abilities. They should have strength, skill, kinesthetic senses, endurance, flexibility, and coordination. Even more importantly, they should have all in balance, with no one aspect in excess. So all the people that we call "natural" athletes are usually those who have one skill or one physical ability which exceeds the others. Martial arts is designed for those who don't have those excesses, the unnatural athlete. Sure we all have our strengths and weaknesses. For example, I am really low level in flexibility, but martial arts gives everyone an opportunity to practice these skills and places emphasis on all the learned physical skills. That's what makes martial arts so special, and why so many of us unnatural athletes have found our place in the arts.

1. He tried out for his high school's varsity team as sophomore and despite being 5'11" the coach deemed him too short to play.

Friday, September 4, 2015

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from the publisher for review purposesTitle: An Approach to Ip Man Sytle Wing ChunWritten by: Wayne BelonohaPublisher:Blue Snake BooksFormat: SoftcoverCover Price: $19.95 (US)

Let me start this review with an explanation that I am not a student of Wing Chun or Kung Fu of any kind. But I have worked out with a Sifu or two, and we've discussed and demonstrated how Wing Chun could be inserted into an Aikido or Jujutsu syllabus very easily. I know enough about Wing Chun to recognize it when I see it, and to appreciate the physical philosophy that it represents. This book does a great job of showing where to start with Wing Chun, and I'm definitely going to steal borrow some of the formatting of his syllabus.

Content

This book is a great place to start if you are interested in Wing Chun, especially the lineage of Ip Man himself. Most people know of Ip Man as being the teacher of a young Bruce Lee, though I suppose more people are starting to know of him through the movies of Ip Man, Ip Man 2, and the Grandmaster. With all the mythology floating around about him, there's bound to be some people making different claim about this technique or that technique. Wayne Belonoha does a good job of showing what his lineage, directly from Ip Man, does in terms of style. The first bit of the book explains about who Ip Man is, what Wing Chun is, and give some documentation for the accuracy of his descriptions of Ip Man style Wing Chun. He then goes through some of the basic techniques and how they are applied.

Pros

I really like how the syllabus is laid out for the reader to see, and how the doctrines, strategy, and tactics align. I don't know if that was specifically his goal, but it definitely worked this way. Its almost like its a "Beginner Guide to Wing Chun." There are LOTS of pictures to demonstrate all the techniques as they are described. Even if you just have a passing fancy about Wing Chun, this is a great book to look at. It will give you the basics of what the martial art is, and how it functions. It's layout methodology is definitely one of the strong points of the book.

Cons

Any time you get real specific with a style of martial art, some "My Sensei said..." creeps into the discussion. To be fair Sifu Belonoha never says his way is better, he just says this is the way Ip Man did it, and to be accurate in its transmission, you have to learn this way. For example, he insists that the martial art be called Ving Tsun instead of Wing Chun, because that's the way Ip Man wrote the name.

Conclusion

I really liked this book and as such I'm going to give it 4 out of 5 of our highly valued Ninja Stars. Its such a weird statement, but I love the format for this book. I think the presentation of information is really well thought out and accessible. I'm definitely going to be using some of the progression ideas and applications as I build my specific club. The beginning of the book's specific style history has its interesting applications as well.

Human brains seem to be designed for story telling. We are story telling animals. Studies have shown that people will remember the same facts better, if they are told them as part of a story. This book exemplifies idea and gives you historical information about the ninja, not just as part of a book, but a story in comic/manga format, which is the way all ninja information should be passed on right?

Content

This book is about 100 pages of a manga style story of a ninja teaching two young disciples the methods of ninja. He teaches his two young apprentices about ninja equipment, ninja deception, and ninja tactics. They are then given part of an assignment to demonstrate their knowledge of ninja. After that, the last 40 pages or so are commentary by Antony Cummins documenting, and expanding on the information given in the comic. Those pages cite where the information comes from.

Pros

I did like the format of showing the information as a story. I also enjoyed the story itself. It wasn't just a student/mentor story, there were other characters, and you actually end up feeling for them. There's even a love story. That's a lot packed into those 100 pages. I'm not the largest anime/manga fan, but I definitely appreciate the media. The art is this book wasn't overly cartoony, nor was it the jagged edged hair type of art. This was a very good realistic style of manga.
The story, which didn't beat you over the head with "your reading educational stuff," was very nicely done. That maybe because you, the reader, weren't the one learning, you were reading of the student Hisaaki, and learning about actual ninja ideas by proxy through him.
I also appreciate the end pages which tell where the information came from, and they're not just making it up. I did an interview with Antony Cummins a while ago, and was appreciative of his knowledge of ninja, and actual ninja scrolls.

Cons

I'm not sure why its in there, but the Samurai/Ninja instructor character seemed to be unnecessarily cruel in his teaching. I'm not sure what that was trying to say with that aspect. Maybe I'm just being sensitive to today's teaching methods.

Conclusion

If you know someone who's into anime or manga, and likes Naruto or something similar, this could be a great gateway for them. This is a great, lets take what you think you know, type of book. I know in Japan, Manga are not viewed as kids materials, and adults are often seen reading them in public, but in the US we still see it as something people grow out of. So, I think this book is being intended for people younger than me. Even so, I did enjoy the story, the art, and the historical accuracies of the book. As such, I'm going to give this book 4 out of 5 Ninja Stars. I really had a grin on my face while I was reading it, but because of the stigma associated with reading comics, I don't know how many people I could openly recommend this book to.

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Review of Black Belt Fitness for Life by Grandmaster Tae Sun Kang

In the interests of full disclosure, I was given a copy of this book for review purposes.

Title: Black Belt Fitness for Life: A 7-Week Plan to Achieve Lifelong WellnessWritten by : Grandmaster Tae Sun KangPublisher: Tuttle PublishingFormat: SoftcoverPage Count: 160Cover Price: $12.95 I've been studying aikido for over 15 years now, which means...I'm old. I cannot rely on my youth to keep me in shape. And as much as I love aikido, and it can be a vigorous exercise, it is not known for its athleticism. So, I've decided to start looking for some advice on how to get back in shape and more importantly how to stay in shape. Since I'm a martial artist, I figure the best way to get into shape would be to follow a martial arts fitness routine. I'm not the type of person whose schedule allows for them to go to the gym for Taebo classes regularly, so I was looking for something I could do at home when ever some spare time (yeah right) rears its head. That's how I found this book. Grandmaster Tae Sun Kang has a simple plan that's not designed to just get you in shape, but to keep you in shape, which is always the hardest part of the battle.

Content

The book's introductory chapters give some background on the author, and then it delves into his philosophy of martial arts and how it can positively affect you physically. He then starts to go through his life-change plan, which includes stretches, exercises, and eating plans/ideas/philosophies. I don't know what to call his food intake ideas, but it is considered part of his overall life-changing plan. Because its martial arts based, each week is a "belt." So the first week's change in movements and eating styles is "white" belt level. And because its the extreme basic level, there isn't much too it. The next level, yellow belt, is designed to push you a little farther on your path. Each week adds small changes that build on the weeks before it. Just as your knowledge in martial arts builds on each belt you've achieved. After 7-weeks you're at the black belt level, where you have your exercise and eating routine in place, and because it took 7-weeks to get there, you've adapted your life to be able to do it. The author also gives advice on how to change up the exercises if you start getting bored of them.

Pros

One of the things that I really liked about this book is the "belt" system of weeks. Just as belts are used in martial arts to be a goal, it can work the same way in life changing habits. Everyone's goal is to be a black belt right? I also really appreciate the idea that not everyone is ready to jump into a lifestyle change, but if you change somethings gradually it will become part of your lifestyle. One point to make is that none of the movements in this plan are exotic or contortionistic stretches that you've never seen before. They are all exercises and movements that you've probably done at one point in your life. Even if you can't do a push-up you know what one is, and the book shows ways to modify the movements/exercises if you don't have the ability to do the full movement/exercise yet. For example, do an inclined push-up if you aren't able to do a full push-up yet. It still is the process of the change that's important.

Cons

The one problem with this book, is that it is a book. If you are able to motivate yourself to get off the couch and do the stretches and exercises, then this book is awesome. If you are a person that requires external motivation, which could be other people in the dojo, or an instructor than no book will really work for you. So make sure you know yourself, or at least want to change yourself, before you get this book.

Another thing that's a little weird about this book is the testimonials scattered throughout the book. I think they're supposed to be motivation points, but I'm not sure. It just seemed a little odd to me.

Conclusion

This book is really well organized, very readable, and indeed, even makes you want to try out the stretches and exercises. It really does motivate you to at least try out what the author is saying. He's very logical in his presentation, and I would love to be in a room with him, as his writings make him seem like an awesome coach who encourages, and creates a non-competitive atmosphere when people are working with him. Overall I'm going to give this book 4 out of 5 ninja stars. The movements are generally martial arts movements, which is why I think most people reading this would want to give it a chance, and they are presented is a very good way where you can tell what is supposed to be done. The motivation factor, and progressive nature of the exercises make this an easy path to follow, and more importantly and easy path to stay on. That's the most important factor of a fitness/eating plan is not the number of people that start it, but how many are still doing it a year from now. Again because of the martial arts nature, I think people interested in martial arts would be more willing to continue on this particular path.

Thursday, July 9, 2015

I've been studying Japanese martial arts since 1995. However, I recently moved to Nashville and decided a change in location could mean a change in martial arts for me as well. There is a local school of Chendokan Aikido, and I still practice there a couple times a month, but I specifically wanted to go back to the beginning and study something where I didn't know the language or ideas presented. So I started looking for a new martial art to study. I looked around at a couple of local schools, some karate, kung-fu and others. Then I listened to a podcast where Steve Perry (the writer not the guy from Journey) was talking about Pencak Silat, and he described the way it looked as Aikido combined with Wing Chun. I was hooked with the idea. Here was an art that was completely foreign in its language and culture, but should still have some familiarity right? I looked around, and there happens to be a school not far away from me. So I started studying PCK Pencak Silat.

PAINS

I've been practicing, and teaching martial arts long enough that I've forgotten what its like to start at the beginning. I forgot how standing in an unfamiliar position uses small muscles that you're not used to using, and how they hurt the next day. I'm decently familiar with Japanese language and how it's structure works, especially within the context of Aikido and martial arts in general. I forgot how daunting and overwhelming learning all the language components can be. Pencak Silat is from Indonesia, and I have no experience with that language or culture. Because Aikido doesn't really use kata, or forms, I was specifically looking for a martial art that had forms. Silat does have forms, and learning them is a completely new, and again, awkward experience.

JOYS

PCK Silat

I'm not complaining or whining, all those same things that are the pains of learning a martial art, are also the joys of learning a martial art. After a little while, the newness of learning a martial art wears off, and all you're left with is the more difficult parts. That's where you have to find your joys. Find joy in learning a new culture and language. Find joy in that awkward, uncomfortable position slowly feeling more natural. Find joy in the ability to push past the learning curve and find pleasure in incremental learning of new skills. All of those are the real joys of learning a new martial art.

Monday, June 29, 2015

Martial arts, in its weird, mystical way, has been a part of fiction probably since there was fiction, and there seems to be only a couple of different ways that martial arts are used: 1. Martial arts explains why a character can do certain deeds, 2. A new martial arts is created that uses fictional martial weapons, or non-human forms , 3. The "Ultimate" martial art where nothing else can defeat it, or 4, As a parody making fun of martial arts, or martial arts movies. My list includes variations on all four. They are of my personal favorites, with explanations as to why. Enjoy.

10. Rex Kwon Do (Napoleon Dynamite)

What can you say about techniques that were perfected after 2 seasons in the octagon? Rex Kwon Do appears in the movie Napoleon Dynamite, when Napoleon goes with his friend Kip to try out Rex's dojo where you are able to learn "the strength of a grizzly, the reflexes of a puma, and the wisdom of a bear." Rex is brilliantly played by one of those weird character actors that doesn't get used enough Dietrich Bader. I didn't like the move as a whole, but those dojo scenes had me laughing.

9. Venusian Aikido/Venusian Karate (Dr. Who, 3rd Doctor)

I know I'll probably get my geek card revoked, but I've never been a Doctor Who fan. That being said, I like the daring of saying there is a martial art done by beings with completely different shapes than humans. How the good Doctor managed to translate that to a human form is beyond me. Also, It apparently switches terms between aikido and karate. Because they're so similar right?

8. Gun Kata (Equilibrium)

Equilibrium is a pretty good movie despite its Christian Bale-ness. In this movie, his wooden acting is actually appropriate because it takes place in an emotionless dystopia where he plays a "Cleric" whose job it is to keep people in line with the program, and taking their emotion-blocking pills. The martial art of Gun Kata is supposed to be based moving to the area of least probability of being shot while engaged in close quarters gun fights. Its an interesting idea, and it looks cool, but it is ultimately impractical. However, I do love a good dystopia...and it ends with a sword fight, so there you go.

7. Klurkor (DC Comics)

Never heard of this one? Well you're not alone. In the 70's/80's (notice the roller skates), in an attempt to make Lois Lane a little less reliant on Superman, she learned the Kryptonian Karate system of Klurkor. Where and when did she learn this, You might ask. Why of course in the year she spend in the shrunken city of Kandor. Only in comics would that make sense. I've never seen any reference that Kal-El actually knows this art, so maybe Lois can teach him some moves.

6. Freman Kempo

I love Dune, and there is a lot of physical hand-to-hand combat intermixed with all the political intrigue, and Weirding Way. I found a reference online (you know how that goes), that says there was a martial art called Fremen (the desert guys with the blue eyes) Kempo. I don't recall it being called that, but they obviously had a specific learnable system of combat with their Crysknives. Besides where else can you learn to walk without rhythm?

5. Mok'Bara

Klingons! Enough said! Actually that's not enough, The Klingons may have the most explored Sci-Fi martial art of them all. Mok'Bara is an overarching martial art that includes both armed and unarmed components. The armed portion covers the use of typical Klingon weapons like the bat'leth, while surprisingly, the unarmed portion is more like taijiquan, in that its about balance and calm. There's been a couple scenes of Worf teaching a class aboard the Enterprise-D in what look like some futuristic gi clothes. There's even a book, which I have to sadly/proudly admit I own, that goes over a bat'leth kata, that supposed to be based on a Chinese Staff kata.

4. The 7 Lightsaber Forms (Star Wars)

Que the Star Wars theme music! There may be no more iconic martial weapon to science fiction than the lightsaber. I tell how old people are by which Star Wars movie they saw in the theater, so you're either Empire-aged, or Jedi-aged. If you're a young whippersnapper, you're Phantom-aged. I, like many martial artist my age, were really excited to see what the Jedi in their prime looked like in the prequel movies, cause let's face it, so far in the original trilogy we'd only seen an old man, a cyborg, and a not-quite-trained Jedi. With the Prequel trilogy we got to see them, and their lightsaber skills on display. If you really get into the geek-dom of it, there are seven "schools" or forms of lightsaber use. Most Jedi lean towards one form of the other, but you can see parts of it in all of them.

3. Taroon-Ifla (Star Trek)

Okay, back to Star Trek. If you read some of the non-cannon fiction, Spock's Vulcan Neck Pinch is part of an overall Vulcan martial art. I included this one as number 3 because, honestly, touching someone in the right way to make them fall unconscious is the goal of many martial arts. It is a peaceful, non-damaging way to end a conflict. O-Sensei would be proud.

2. Sumito

Okay, I'm biased for this one. This is from the Matador series of books by Steve Perry (read my review). Sumito is a fictional martial art that is unintentionally based on Pencak Silat. Since I've stared studying Silat, I've come to appreciate the way Steve Perry writes about this art even more. I included it this high on the list because it seems an imminently practical art, which cannot be said for most on this list. There is nothing super-human, or even alien about this one. It just describes the way to move and to use techniques to manipulate a person to do what you want them to do.

1. Ameri Do Te

Best of All, Worst of None. Bat'leth are Bullshit!

If I left out any of your favorites, let me know in the comments, and I can re-edit the post to include "honorable mentions"